Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has been upfront about wanting to upgrade his rotation this offseason, and he wasted no time getting started.
According to MLB insider Jon Heyman, the Red Sox have acquired veteran starter Sonny Gray from the St. Louis Cardinals. Gray has one year left on his three-year deal plus a club option for 2027. The 36-year-old held a full no-trade clause but approved the move to Boston.
Breslow made the deal with former Red Sox baseball chief Chaim Bloom, who now oversees baseball operations in St. Louis. Bloom knows Boston’s farm system extremely well, which could set the stage for more trades between the two clubs.
Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported that the Red Sox will receive twenty million dollars from the Cardinals to offset Gray’s contract. Gray is owed thirty-one million dollars in 2025 and has a ten million dollar option buyout for 2027. Without the financial help from St. Louis, Gray would have added forty-one million dollars to Boston’s luxury tax total. With the offset, the figure drops to twenty-one million dollars.
Red Sox make first major move of their offseason, trade for Sonny Gray from Cardinals
St. Louis received Richard Fitts and top pitching prospect Brandon Clarke in return. Fitts, who came to Boston from the Yankees in the 2023 Alex Verdugo trade, posted a 3.97 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP over 65.2 innings from 2024 to 2025. Clarke, a fifth-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, impressed in his debut season with a 4.03 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 60 strikeouts and 27 walks across 38 innings.
Gray owns a career 3.58 ERA across 13 MLB seasons. Along with the Cardinals, he has pitched for Oakland, Cincinnati, Minnesota and New York. He is a three-time All-Star in 2015, 2019 and 2023, and he earned Cy Young votes in each of those seasons.
In 2025, he recorded a 4.28 ERA, a 1.234 WHIP, 201 strikeouts and 38 walks over 180.2 innings, leading the National League with a 5.29 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His ERA may not stand out, but his elite walk rate and strong swing-and-miss numbers highlight his value.
Adding Gray is a promising opening move for Boston, but it is unlikely he is the frontline starter Breslow has said he wants. While Gray provides leadership and postseason poise to a young staff, he does not quite match the impact level of targets such as Freddy Peralta or Joe Ryan.